Chapter Twelve: Night of Reckoning
Section One: Undercurrents Stir
Four in the morning.
Above the ruins district, pale gray mist hung like the slow decay of breath, coiling around the dilapidated buildings.
Jason sat quietly in a makeshift command room at the temporary base.
A lone lamp dangled from the ceiling, its cold white light restrained.
On the table, the virtual interface of his personal terminal unfolded.
Data streams from peripheral nodes pulsed with faint glimmers.
Jason's brow furrowed slightly.
—Anomaly frequency was rising.
The scoring flow showed noise in its curve,
Resource node synchronization had dropped by 3.6%.
On the surface, stability held,
But to his eyes,
This was a foundation stone teetering on the edge.
His fingers tapped the table,
Thoughts racing.
[Fuxi System Prompt]
Main Hexagram: Water Over Fire (Ji Ji).
Fragile balance, covert mutations.
Outward calm, inner fracturing.
Beware the undercurrent, trust not appearances.
Jason took a deep breath,
A passage from a recently studied ancient text surfacing naturally in his mind—
[The Art of War: Chapter on Strength and Weakness]
"The skilled warrior seeks momentum, not reliance on men."
Seek momentum, not men.
Control the flow of the situation, not hope in human loyalty.
He narrowed his eyes, tapping the interface,
Pulling up the top ten nodes with anomalous fluctuations.
—Three familiar names stood out starkly.
They corresponded to three small peripheral groups,
Showing irregular score spikes, abnormal resource flow surges in the past twelve hours,
And undeclared dark-channel transactions.
A cold arc curved Jason's lips.
"It seems the first bodies are rising to the surface."
[System Prompt]
Screening conditions confirmed.
Potential defector nodes × 3.
Recommended actions: [Covert Monitoring] → [Induce Exposure] → [Swift Liquidation].
Jason fell silent for a few seconds,
His plan already taking shape.
Tonight,
No grand displays were needed,
No disturbance of the larger game.
Only—
The quietest method,
To let traitors trip over themselves.
He summoned the hidden command interface,
Setting bait resource paths for the three anomalous nodes.
Each path appeared exploitable on the surface,
But was laced with tracking and lockdown mechanisms.
If they took the bait,
All evidence
Would surface seamlessly under the system's gaze.
This wasn't trust in them.
This was inducement.
Jason murmured softly:
"Between truth and illusion, only momentum reigns."
"Before the storm, the undercurrent surges first."
Wind howled outside the broken window frames.
In the distance, faint streaks of vehicle headlights flashed.
The city slumbered still.
But beneath its sleep,
A silent slaughter
Had quietly begun.
Jason's eyes narrowed,
His gaze sharp as a blade.
Tonight,
Not everyone would see tomorrow's sun.
---
Section Two: The Game in the Dark
Four-thirty in the morning,
The edge of the campus in the depths of the ruins district, old warehouse zone.
The air was damp and cold,
Night fog rolled along cracked streets,
Spreading like silent mold.
Low-tier peripheral node members
Gathered in twos and threes at designated meeting points,
Ostensibly for routine resource handoffs—
But Jason knew
Tonight would see far fiercer collisions of undercurrents.
He sat quietly on the second floor of the base's command room,
Linked to peripheral observation nodes through the system,
Overseeing it all via multi-feed surveillance.
Like a hunter watching the restless stirrings of prey.
Feed One:
At the corner of a dilapidated parking lot,
Two mid-sized peripheral groups were locked in heated dispute.
Voices were deliberately hushed,
But still audible:
"Why should you take this batch of points?!"
"Resource allocation is set by the platform—dare to skim it?"
"Hah, the platform? You mean Jason Carter?"
"Joke's on you—who is he to call the shots? You think there's no one backing us?"
One sneered, jabbing a finger near the other's chest.
Muscles tensed,
Hands already gripping tactical batons in pockets.
The situation teetered on the edge.
Feed Two:
Beside the ruins of an old schoolhouse.
Three peripheral node representatives whispered in tense conference,
Faces grim, expressions complex.
"I heard resource flows are being monitored covertly."
"Score changes have hidden logs too…"
One spoke softly, eyes betraying faint unease.
Another gritted their teeth:
"Who knows if it's a deliberate trap."
"Why not band together and seize the main channel?"
Their gazes met,
No explicit agreement,
But the air grew thick with restless intent.
Jason tapped the table.
On the terminal interface,
The [Risk Index] for corresponding nodes was creeping upward.
[Fuxi System Prompt]
Water Over Fire (Ji Ji):
Outward harmony, inner fracture.
Undercurrents stir change.
Balance is an illusion; chaos has begun.
He exhaled softly.
This was no surprise.
Rather, it was the inevitable outcome he'd calculated.
The [Bait Resource Paths] were set,
[Risk Nodes] marked.
Now, only a spark was needed.
Jason's gaze was calm,
He drew a worn notebook from the table's side.
Flipping to a page,
A handwritten excerpt stared back:
[Guiguzi: Chapter on Response]
"When circumstances are fluid, meet chaos with chaos;
When hearts waver, entice power with power."
His fingers traced the words,
His gaze deep as the abyss.
In chaos,
The best tactic wasn't to quell it,
But to guide it,
Letting it collapse within the tracks he'd laid.
At the base's far-end console,
Signal lights flickered.
Peripheral node frequency anomalies—accelerating.
Some nodes were attempting to form private cliques,
Others were diverting resource channels,
A few were sending probing signals to unknown external forces.
[System Prompt]
Potential betrayal attempts detected × 2.
Instability index risen to 38%.
Jason smiled faintly,
Not a trace of panic.
—It was time.
His fingertip tapped the interface,
Issuing three subtle commands:
① Unlock Hidden Resource Node—
Fabricate a "leaked" resource exposure between peripheral groups.
② Amplify Resource Sync Delays—
Create misjudgments, sowing distrust.
③ Disseminate False Intelligence—
"Jason is closely monitoring specific groups," left deliberately vague.
This sequence was like igniting a long-buried powder keg.
In the old parking lot, conflict erupted.
One group struck first.
A fist smashed a nose,
Blood splattered the ground.
Curses, struggles, the dull crack of breaking bones
Echoed through the ruined night.
Farther off, by the old schoolhouse,
One of the conspiring trio drew a knife,
Its cold gleam slicing the dim light.
Panic and roars exploded,
While nearby node representatives
Realized in an instant—
The situation had spiraled out of control.
Jason watched it all,
His expression unshaken.
He knew:
Tonight,
The peripheral node system would undergo
Its first "internal purification."
No need for him to wield the blade.
Only to let the unworthy
Kill each other,
Liquidate themselves.
[System Summary Prompt]
Culling dynamics accelerating.
Risk nodes self-exposed × 4.
Score anomaly node identification completion: 92%.
Recommended action: Enter liquidation preparation phase.
Jason closed the notebook,
Murmuring softly:
"Chaos is the finest order."
---
Section Three: Night of Reckoning
Five in the morning,
The ruins district's sky began to pale at the edges,
Like a vast, rusted iron plate slowly turning.
The old parking lot was streaked with blood,
The schoolhouse ruins still cloaked in dust.
The peripheral node system's first internal upheaval
Ripped open like a jagged tear,
Inevitably exposed under Jason's surveillance.
But this was exactly what he'd anticipated.
He sat before the command console,
The terminal's virtual interface shimmering with cold light,
Forming a constantly shifting [Node Risk Distribution Map].
Red dots—marked potential rebels;
Gray dots—marked waverers;
Blue dots—marked silent observers.
The three colors wove a battlefield map ripe for harvest.
[Fuxi System Prompt]
Water Over Fire (Ji Ji): At this juncture.
Inner fractures revealed, to sever or sustain.
Recommendation: Precise excision, leave no loose ends.
Jason tapped the interface,
Cold commands flowing into the darknet backend.
Reckoning, initiated.
Phase One: Score Freeze
All nodes showing anomalous behavior in the conflict
Had their score accounts instantly frozen;
Transaction permissions were terminated,
Resource flows forcibly severed,
Private communication logs backed up and extracted.
On the virtual interface,
Red freeze commands streaked like lightning.
Those plotting betrayal
Would soon discover, in mere minutes,
They'd lost the right to breathe within the system.
Phase Two: Resource Chain Severance
Jason mobilized Emily's prearranged team,
Silently locking down peripheral micro-distribution points.
No public arrests,
But covert severance—
Leaving nodes attempting covert alliances
Stranded without logistics or funds in an instant.
—In the ruins, those without resources could only wait for death.
Emily sent a brief report:
"Peripheral chain severance complete, target node entrapment rate at 94%."
Jason nodded, saying nothing.
Tonight, he needed not lift a hand.
The entire situation was closing its net as calculated.
Phase Three: Opinion Shaping
Jason opened a hidden peripheral darknet message channel.
Carefully crafted anonymous rumors began to spread:
"Some nodes betrayed the platform, forcibly liquidated…"
"Score freezes were for colluding with enemies…"
"The platform's control is tighter, security enhanced…"
The rumors infiltrated every peripheral group with precise rhythm.
Fear, doubt, distrust, all meticulously guided.
But Jason knew—
Fear wasn't the goal.
Allegiance was the true endgame.
[System Summary Prompt]
Reckoning phase progress: 83%.
Peripheral node structure stability risen to 71%.
Rebel nodes self-eliminated × 5.
Risk fracturing rate dropped to 12%.
Jason closed the terminal,
Gazing quietly at the slowly brightening street beyond the battered window.
The sky paled faintly,
A new day approaching.
But for some in the ruins,
Their night had ended forever.
In the base's temporary meeting room, Kael entered.
His eyes swept the command room's screens, littered with red-marked node maps,
His pupils contracting slightly.
"You made your move."
Kael's voice was low.
Jason didn't turn, his tone calm:
"This isn't a move."
"It's clearing the ruins."
Kael fell silent for a moment,
Then exhaled softly,
A complex, bitter smile tugging at his lips:
"…Lunatic."
Jason chuckled lightly,
Still not looking back.
[Fuxi Hexagram]
Fire above water,
Surface calm, yet boiling beneath.
The Ji Ji game is not perfection,
But constant reckoning, constant balance.
Jason stepped out of the command room,
Facing the dim dawn light.
He knew—
After tonight,
What truly belonged to him
Was not just the peripheral nodes,
But—
The first grasp of ''domination.''
And the empire
Was born silently
In such a night.
---
Section Four: Blood-Stained Order
Ruins district periphery, temporary assembly point.
Dawn was breaking.
The purged node members stood in scattered groups on the open ground,
Exhausted and uneasy,
Like startled birds.
In their score accounts,
Some had lost operational permissions, frozen out.
The survivors, though silent,
Knew in their hearts—
[Submit] or [Vanish]
Was no longer a choice.
Jason stood atop the highest ruined steps of the assembly point,
Clad in a gray-black hooded coat,
Quietly overlooking the scene.
His personal terminal hovered beside his left shoulder,
Syncing node status data in real-time.
[Fuxi System Prompt]
Water Over Fire (Ji Ji):
Heaven and earth aligned, yet incomplete.
Surface calm, inner peril persists;
Sustain balance through constant reckoning and guidance.
Jason closed the terminal,
A faint chill flickering in his eyes.
He knew,
Even with this round of reckoning complete,
Peace was far from assured.
The larger the influence,
The more nodes,
The more unstable factors would inevitably breed.
On the open ground, Kael leaned against a broken iron pillar,
His gaze complex as he watched Jason.
Tonight's actions made Kael realize—
This outwardly calm and restrained youth
Was far more terrifying than anyone imagined.
Not for cruelty,
But for the near-mechanical precision of his ruthless layouts,
And the silent stripping of human frailty.
Emily reported softly behind Jason:
"Peripheral node cleanup complete."
"Elimination rate 23%, remaining node stability risen to 78%."
"Opinion control largely in place."
Jason nodded slightly.
He didn't declare victory,
But descended the steps slowly,
His gaze sweeping the trembling crowd.
Every person who met his eyes
Instinctively lowered their head.
Some hid fear,
Some hid resentment,
But most
Showed passive submission.
Jason's lips curved into a faint arc.
Perfect.
Fear was the catalyst for control.
Submission was the first step to rule.
He paused,
Standing on a cracked stone platform,
Speaking softly:
"Tonight, there are no winners."
"Nor losers."
"Only—
Those who understand the rules,
And those about to be crushed by them."
His voice was quiet,
Yet it pierced like a slender knife
Deep into the ears of every surviving node.
The distant ruins loomed faintly in the morning mist,
Like slumbering beasts ready to rise.
Jason withdrew his gaze.
The terminal interface showed
The peripheral nodes stabilizing,
The scoring system realigning,
Resource flows returning to normal.
But this
Was only the beginning.
A true empire
Was never built on a single reckoning.
He murmured softly:
"Blood is the finest nourishment for order."
[Fuxi Hexagram]
[Water Over Fire (Ji Ji)]
"Water below, fire above,
Surface formed, yet inner flux persists.
Ji Ji is not finality,
Balance is a dynamic battle."
[Situation]
Reckoning, for stability;
Stability, for greater expansion;
Expansion, for absolute domination.
---
Section Five: The Empire's Faint Glow
Five-thirty in the morning.
At the ruins district's horizon, a dark golden rift pierced the sky.
Ruins, broken buildings, collapsed streets
Were edged in pale outlines by the faint, piercing light.
Jason stood atop an abandoned campus building,
Wind whipping the hem of his gray-black coat, rustling fiercely.
He overlooked this land of chaos.
The peripheral nodes, fresh from their first reckoning,
Were submitting slowly in the cold and fear,
Like a river in early winter,
Its surface icing over, yet undercurrents still churning below.
[Fuxi System Prompt]
The interface unfolded a new hexagram:
Water Over Fire (Ji Ji).
Outward stillness, inner motion, stable yet unformed.
The Fuxi System offered no explicit command,
Only a deeper, more cryptic reminder—
Control is dynamic,
A single lapse could shatter it to dust.
Jason lowered his gaze,
A line from yesterday's notebook, endlessly recited, flashing through his mind:
"The essence of Ji Ji is danger within stability, defeat within success."
Ji Ji was the illusion of calm,
The final brilliance before collapse loomed.
He raised his head slowly,
His gaze piercing the campus's ruined boundary wall.
Beyond lay the scavenger legions' territory;
Farther still, the gray zones of the free black market;
And higher, in the darknet's ether, TRACE's core group's tendrils crept closer.
The city above the ruins
Was a spider's web,
Every seemingly harmless thread
Hiding blades and abysses.
Jason mentally traced his path.
He wouldn't linger in the periphery.
He wouldn't settle for preliminary order.
His goal, from the start, was never mere safety,
But—
Total domination.
From the ruins below to the pinnacle of order.
The wind grew colder,
Carrying the rust and old blood of the city's decay.
Jason drew a yellowed card from inside his coat.
A rubbing of an inscription fragment, retrieved when he left China,
From the awakening grounds of the Fuxi System.
Faintly visible were a few ancient lines,
Memorized to his very bones:
"Observe fire over water,
With the way of safety and peril,
With the pivot of success and defeat."
A few short words,
Surpassing a thousand oaths.
From the ruins below, faint whispers of surviving nodes drifted up:
"He… purged the dissenters…"
"From now on… we can only follow him…"
The whispers, like tides in the dark,
Spread silently in all directions.
Jason listened quietly,
Unmoved.
This was the first,
The initial step,
Where he truly began forging his empire in the ruins.
An empire not built on passion,
Not on slogans,
But on reckoning, layouts, domination, and the growth of order.
The dawn light spread further,
The ruins' outlines growing sharp.
In the distance, scavenger squads patrolled,
Free black market trade vans moved covertly,
Blackvine Circle scouts lurked in high-rise shadows.
Jason turned,
The fierce wind stretching his shadow long and sharp.
The path ahead
Would only grow darker,
More treacherous,
More blood-soaked.
But he knew—
The deeper the night,
The truer the faint glow.
None could stop it,
For they could not see
The true empire,
In the heart of the ruins,
Had quietly
Been born.